Walk to highlight Highlands fertile birding ground

A “Treasure Highlands” Bird Hike will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on August 18 by the Highlands Biological Foundation.

Members of the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society to some of the best birding spots around the Highlands Nature Center. This Highlands Plateau is one of five Important Bird Areas in the state. The town of Highlands has 400 documented species making it one of the most diverse areas for birds on the eastern seaboard.

The Naturalist's Corner

This year will mark the 117th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC.) The CBC is the longest-lived and largest citizen-science project in the world.

The count began in 1900. It was the brainchild of Frank Chapman, one of the officers of the fledgling Audubon Society. Chapman created the “bird census” as an alternative to the traditional Christmas “side-hunt,” a contest where groups would shoulder their arms and hit the fields and/or woods — the team that came back with the greatest number of corpses would be declared the winner.